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3.09 AVERAGE
3.09 AVERAGE
From what I can gather, Children of Liberty is the first book in a new series, which leads up to her most popular series, the Tatiana and Alexander trilogy. I haven't read that series yet, though I plan to begin it in the next week or so, but my research indicates that the main characters in Children of Liberty, are the parents in The Bronze Horseman. Sadly, while an okay read, all signs indicate that Children of Liberty pales in comparison to Simons' previous works.
By far, the biggest problem here is the writing. So much of it is odd, sentences strung together in strange ways that don't add to the narrative. Much of the dialogue is stilted and unnatural. Characters will be discussing one topic and then suddenly veer off onto another one without any warning or natural progression. These weaknesses are especially prevalent in the first half of the novel, but continue throughout.
The novel is also quite slow to begin, as I did not care at all about any of the characters right off the boat. Gina is 14 when Children of Liberty begins, and she acts it, her thoughts and words childish and naive. Her mother, the annoyingly named Mimoo, never serves any purpose but to worry. Her brother, Salvo, is an asshole who treats everyone with disdain, especially his sister. Even worse, he turns out not to matter a whole lot in the overall story, not appearing once after about the halfway point. Why spend so much time on him if he doesn't matter? I suppose if the rest of the intended series is published he'll matter again, but it's awkward for now.
The historical setting at the turn of the century should have been enthralling. Ben, Harry's friend, is working to get the Panama Canal constructed to revolutionize exporting around the world. Radicals like Eugene Debs and Emma Goldman are often referenced and even make appearances. As a history nerd, these elements should have left me feeling more educated and curious, but they were poorly integrated and I found myself sorely tempted to skim. Ben just kept going on and on about his bananas. Ben's mom kept getting on her soapbox about anti-imperialism. Later, Gina becomes interested in anarchism. Yet, none of these seem to matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. So far as I can tell, the anarchism only matters because it loosened Gina's morals.
Speaking of Gina's morals, we're coming to the stumbling block that really mattered more than most of those other things: I really hate Harry. Gina wants Harry from the moment she first meets him, when she's 14 and he's 21. She pursues him for six goddamn years. That's pathetic enough all on it's own, but, worse, he's in a serious relationship the entire time, engaged for five of those years. Of course, since the book is about their romance more than anything, he eventually capitulates to her charms and they have a whole lot of sex. While he's engaged to another woman. There is nothing that can make this okay with me, and Harry was already a weak-willed, annoying, whiny liar to begin with. Gina's attraction to him made me dislike her, even though in every other respect her older self is actually fairly likable.
Still, Children of Liberty was a decent read on the whole. I appreciated the banter between Ben and Harry at least, and it was fairly fast-paced. I didn't quite dislike it, but there is so much room for improvement. I really hope The Bronze Horseman is better, but every review I've seen assures me that it is. If you're a fan of that series, don't embark on this one expecting it to be anywhere near as good.
By far, the biggest problem here is the writing. So much of it is odd, sentences strung together in strange ways that don't add to the narrative. Much of the dialogue is stilted and unnatural. Characters will be discussing one topic and then suddenly veer off onto another one without any warning or natural progression. These weaknesses are especially prevalent in the first half of the novel, but continue throughout.
The novel is also quite slow to begin, as I did not care at all about any of the characters right off the boat. Gina is 14 when Children of Liberty begins, and she acts it, her thoughts and words childish and naive. Her mother, the annoyingly named Mimoo, never serves any purpose but to worry. Her brother, Salvo, is an asshole who treats everyone with disdain, especially his sister. Even worse, he turns out not to matter a whole lot in the overall story, not appearing once after about the halfway point. Why spend so much time on him if he doesn't matter? I suppose if the rest of the intended series is published he'll matter again, but it's awkward for now.
The historical setting at the turn of the century should have been enthralling. Ben, Harry's friend, is working to get the Panama Canal constructed to revolutionize exporting around the world. Radicals like Eugene Debs and Emma Goldman are often referenced and even make appearances. As a history nerd, these elements should have left me feeling more educated and curious, but they were poorly integrated and I found myself sorely tempted to skim. Ben just kept going on and on about his bananas. Ben's mom kept getting on her soapbox about anti-imperialism. Later, Gina becomes interested in anarchism. Yet, none of these seem to matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. So far as I can tell, the anarchism only matters because it loosened Gina's morals.
Speaking of Gina's morals, we're coming to the stumbling block that really mattered more than most of those other things: I really hate Harry. Gina wants Harry from the moment she first meets him, when she's 14 and he's 21. She pursues him for six goddamn years. That's pathetic enough all on it's own, but, worse, he's in a serious relationship the entire time, engaged for five of those years. Of course, since the book is about their romance more than anything, he eventually capitulates to her charms and they have a whole lot of sex. While he's engaged to another woman. There is nothing that can make this okay with me, and Harry was already a weak-willed, annoying, whiny liar to begin with. Gina's attraction to him made me dislike her, even though in every other respect her older self is actually fairly likable.
Still, Children of Liberty was a decent read on the whole. I appreciated the banter between Ben and Harry at least, and it was fairly fast-paced. I didn't quite dislike it, but there is so much room for improvement. I really hope The Bronze Horseman is better, but every review I've seen assures me that it is. If you're a fan of that series, don't embark on this one expecting it to be anywhere near as good.
2.5 out of 5..rounding up to a pretty generous 3 out of 5
I have been a fan of Paullina Simons for many years now. For a long time I was a moderator on the now defunct message boards and met a few people who are now my offline as well as online friends, I have lined up to get my books signed, I have pushed her books onto other readers and other fangirlish behaviour. I loved books like Red Leaves and Girl in Times Square and especially the Bronze Horseman trilogy, particularly The Bronze Horseman and Bridge to the Holy Cross. I devoured those two books in the space of two very long nights, and so when I heard that Paullina Simon's next book was going to be the story of Alexander Barrington's parents (Alexander being the main male character in The Bronze Horseman trilogy), I was super, super excited.
Some times it doesn't pay to get super, super excited.
The book opens on the eve of the 20th century. Gina Attaviano and her brother Salvatore along with their mother have just made the journey from Italy to their new life in America. It was to have been a journey that the whole family made but their father and older brother unfortunately didn't survive long enough to see their dream come true. The family land in Boston and there they are met by two young men who offer them lodgings before they journey on to the immigrant town of Lawrence, 20 miles away, where they will be living and working.
To hear more of my thoughts about this book head to
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2013/02/children-of-liberty-by-paullina-simons.html
I have been a fan of Paullina Simons for many years now. For a long time I was a moderator on the now defunct message boards and met a few people who are now my offline as well as online friends, I have lined up to get my books signed, I have pushed her books onto other readers and other fangirlish behaviour. I loved books like Red Leaves and Girl in Times Square and especially the Bronze Horseman trilogy, particularly The Bronze Horseman and Bridge to the Holy Cross. I devoured those two books in the space of two very long nights, and so when I heard that Paullina Simon's next book was going to be the story of Alexander Barrington's parents (Alexander being the main male character in The Bronze Horseman trilogy), I was super, super excited.
Some times it doesn't pay to get super, super excited.
The book opens on the eve of the 20th century. Gina Attaviano and her brother Salvatore along with their mother have just made the journey from Italy to their new life in America. It was to have been a journey that the whole family made but their father and older brother unfortunately didn't survive long enough to see their dream come true. The family land in Boston and there they are met by two young men who offer them lodgings before they journey on to the immigrant town of Lawrence, 20 miles away, where they will be living and working.
To hear more of my thoughts about this book head to
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2013/02/children-of-liberty-by-paullina-simons.html
This is a prequel to her Bronze Horseman trilogy, but you don't need to have read those books to appreciate this one.
This is definitely an interesting book and I enjoy anything having to do with immigration. This isn't a political book by any means, but it's a neat correlation how every group of immigrants have been viewed with suspicion at best and hostility at worst. In this particular case, the immigrants are Italians.
Almost immediately, Gina is drawn to Harry, but Harry spends a great deal of the narrative pretending that he doesn't feel anything for her. A lot of that has to do with the fact that his family is wealthy and that his life is largely mapped out for him. He's expected to join the family business and marry his father's business partner's daughter. He and Alice get along well but there's no real spark between them. At least, not on his part---Alice seems to like him. But I'm guessing a lot of that is because Alice seems to be the kind of girl who does exactly what's expected of her.
I haven't read the trilogy but I would like to now. I like Harry and Gina and am interested in knowing what happens to them---especially given the ending of the book.
This is definitely an interesting book and I enjoy anything having to do with immigration. This isn't a political book by any means, but it's a neat correlation how every group of immigrants have been viewed with suspicion at best and hostility at worst. In this particular case, the immigrants are Italians.
Almost immediately, Gina is drawn to Harry, but Harry spends a great deal of the narrative pretending that he doesn't feel anything for her. A lot of that has to do with the fact that his family is wealthy and that his life is largely mapped out for him. He's expected to join the family business and marry his father's business partner's daughter. He and Alice get along well but there's no real spark between them. At least, not on his part---Alice seems to like him. But I'm guessing a lot of that is because Alice seems to be the kind of girl who does exactly what's expected of her.
I haven't read the trilogy but I would like to now. I like Harry and Gina and am interested in knowing what happens to them---especially given the ending of the book.